Siddu acting like dictator, says BSY

KJP president B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was behaving like a dictator by announcing various new schemes without examining their pros and cons.

Without ascertaining the financial implications, the chief minister has been announcing several new programmes. Even his Cabinet colleagues are upset over his decisions, Yeddyurappa told presspersons here.

On the very day he took over as the chief minister, Siddaramaiah announced certain programmes that would cost the state exchequer Rs 6,000 crore. “I am not against these populist programmes. But, postponing the Re one-a-kg rice scheme has created confusion among people,” the former chief minister said.

Siddaramaiah has proposed to bring the Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt and the Sri Mahabaleshwara temple in Gokarna under the control of the Muzrai department. All of a sudden he has imposed a ban on manufacture and sale of gutka. All these were not part of the Congress manifesto, Yeddyurappa said.

‘Contradictions’

“Siddaramaiah speaks of supplying cheap liquor to masses. At the same time, he speaks about the ill-effects of gutka. He says the State’s finances were in a bad shape under the BJP regime. But, he also states that he was announcing various new programmes as State’s finances are sound. Siddaramaiah’s statements are full of contradictions,” the KJP chief claimed.

Reacting to Siddaramaiah’s statement that the minorities lived under fear during the BJP regime, Yeddyurappa asked the chief minister to explain when such a situation had prevailed. Yeddyurappa said that in the elections to posts of president and vice-president in urban local bodies, the KJP would come to an understanding with  parties depending on the local situation.